Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Is it me?

Is it me or is homework for the parents to do?

Some of the recent homework I have subjected to makes me wonder who it is for? How is this a homework to back up what has been done in class when it clearly hasn't been looked at by the class before? Luckily I am a teacher and I can cope but others can't. It is really bad for parents to be faced with homework for a 7 year old that they can't do. It is very common! Holding classes to show them how to subtract and add the new way is not helpful to working parents!

Also, some homework is downright bizarre! A friend of mine posted her son's task on Facebook: Do you know a person who looks like a vegetable? Let's all insult each other shall we? Someone's dad might have a cauliflower ear from rugby but can you really say the vicar looks like a parsnip?

My eldest is getting ready for options. He has decided to do music but being a drummer he can't read music. I am teaching it to him on a weekly basis to prepare him. How fair is that on parents who can't do that themselves? Kumon is also another bug bear of mine. It costs £50 a month per subject! Agreed, it works, but not all parents can afford it! It is one thing to pay for horse riding lessons as an additional skill but paying for what they should be taught in school is quite another!

I feel better now I have got that off my chest!

Back to my week in school! Serious hard work is under way in Y6 now! The poor kids are only doing literacy and numeracy all day long! They have ditched science as the OFSTED team are not inspecting that in the school in question. They let the schools know in advance and they carry on with science. How unfair! Some schools are devoting the whole week to the SAT's and others have extra with science.

The boys are shattered writing all week! The afternoon behaviour is deteriorating at a rate of knots! Flashback story ideas, planning grids, drafts, redrafts, big write plus mental maths and daily maths and booster!!!!! On Friday they get P.E.! I bet they can't wait! Next week is worse! SAT's practice tests all week!!!! Undoubtedly I will get supply and be expected to mark them!!!!!

No fun at the moment! Yesterday we had a big discussion about Ash Wednesday. Is it a no meat day or not. I say yes. No meat. What do you say?

1 comment:

Ooh I love your rant about homework - It is a popular rant of mine too. I believe in homework and think both parents and children can benefit. I do, however, rebel against spellings that are inappropriate i.e. idiotic, stealth - when will an 8yo use these? There needs to be clear distinction re how much help a parent should be giving - and above all we should see that the teacher is actually spending time marking book reviews that take a long time to do!